Selby wore a maroon button-up shirt and black trousers, and was expressionless throughout the proceedings.
“Not guilty, your honour,” he said when asked how he would plead to the charge of driving without due care and attention causing death.
The 71-year-old didn’t speak again, even when hounded by television reporters on his way out.
Few hard facts were in dispute in the trial, but both sides sparred over Selby’s likely frame of mind while driving and what might have caused his failure to slow down.
The defence, headed by Saul Holt, argued his client thought he was hitting the brakes, but his foot must have become stuck or slipped.
“It’s actually the only thing that explains everything – that he was trying to apply the brake,” Holt said.
“He’s saying, ‘I’m not blaming the bus, I’m not blaming a medical incident; I thought I was braking and I wasn’t’.”
Prosecutor Susan Hedge said the footage and other evidence showed Selby’s behaviour could not be justified, and he had ample opportunity to stop.
“It’s simply that he fell below the standards of a [reasonably prudent] driver,” she told the court.
Four police officers and a paramedic who had been on the scene testified before the judge, while filmed interviews with Selby in the hours after the crash were played to the court.
Hedge revealed the bus has since been put back into service by Brisbane City Council.
The case will return to court on October 30.
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